number 34 • Winter 2018

The Public Interest

Postmodern religion

Summer 2002

A PUZZLING aspect of religion in America today is that there is both less and more of it than 40 or 50 years ago. Gone is the recitation of the Lord’s Prayer at the start of the school day. Gone are moments of silence in school and clergy-led prayers at graduation. Gone are many of the behavioral restraints imposed by a Christian culture—restraints on dancing, Sunday shopping, abortion, divorce, etc. And gone are the communal bonds that closely tied many individuals to their churches, synagogues, and parishes.